


Lost Children

by ihoardlibrarians



Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 23:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10729854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihoardlibrarians/pseuds/ihoardlibrarians
Summary: Briar and Tris know what it's like to be lost. Sandry has her uncle and Daja has the Traders, but Briar and Tris only really have each other and the circle. After Zhegorz, it's time to make sure ambient craft mages never get lost again.





	Lost Children

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Amberly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amberly/gifts).



            Tris threw lightning hooks from her eyes into an image passing on the wind. She strained to keep it in front of her and almost laughed at the synchronicity of it all when the image became clear: small girl, held in place by loving, thorny vines. Seeing magic on the wind was still difficult, but Tris could just make out a tangled golden mess connecting the girl to the vines.

            “Briar!” she shouted. “I got one!”

            Chime screeched in victory as Briar bounded up the stairs to the roof. He crashed through the door, a vial of enhancing oil in hand and mage kit slung over his shoulder. He brushed gentle fingers over her eyes and the vision became much sharper.

            “Can we trace them?” he asked. Tris reached out for him, hands questing through the air until Briar caught them and pulled her up.

            “I think so,” she said. Tris opened her mind to him so that he could see the budding plant mage. He grinned at the image, remembering a similar moment with some bean plants.

            _That’s in East District, over by Acalon house_. Sandry’s voice chimed in their mind like tiny bells. She was busy overseeing a housing initiative in the Mire alongside her uncle, Duke Vedris. Even though they were talking to contractors and city planners, Sandry was able to split her attention enough to plot a route to the garden that held the new mage captive.

            _We better move fast, then_. Briar grabbed Tris’ glasses and slipped them into his pocket for when she was done scrying. He led her down through the house onto the street, holding her hand. Tris kept the image in view the whole time, studying it for clues.

            _I think that’s Lucky Street_ , Daja supplied. She was also busy, in her forge with Kirel. They were working on a gift for Frostpine, buckets and buckets of nails. She placed iron rods in the forge to heat while Kirel organized their workspace.

            “Of course it is,” Tris murmured. She let Briar guide her down the street as Chime flew over them, bobbing and weaving with the breezes. Tris focused all her attention on the girl. She was of merchant stock, Tris could tell. She wore the same petticoats that Tris couldn’t bring herself to be rid of when she was young and living at Winding Circle.

            Hand in hand, Briar trotted them down from Emerald Triangle through Market Square. Tris clung to the image of the little blonde girl with big brown eyes, running dirty fingers over thorns that clutched her skirts. She couldn’t be more than eleven. Skidding to a halt, Briar jerked Tris back and knocked the image loose from her mind. She looked around frantically for the breeze, trying to get it back so she could keep the girl in view, but Briar shook her shoulder to get her attention. He pointed across the street at a garden box where a small blonde girl crouched, carefully unhooking thorns from her stockings.

            “Not again!” she cried out. For every thorn she freed, another hooked into her. “Ow! Stop it!” A vine wrapped around her hand, squeezing. Briar was next to her in a flash, sending out a pulse of his own green magic.

            “Here, hold still,” he coaxed. The girl leaned as far away from him as she could while still held in place by rose vines. Tris ambled up behind them, still in shock that they found her. As Briar worked the thorns free and sent the vines back on their way, Tris perched on the edge of the garden box.

            “That’s bound to happen when you climb inside the box with the plants,” she teased. The girl jumped and turned to face Tris. Her cheeks tinged pink and she rubbed her hand where the thorns squeezed her. Briar was already rummaging through his kit for a balm to sooth the pain. The girl was edging back, but Briar was ready if she thought to run. A vine of his magic looped around her core.

            “I wasn’t doing anything _wrong_ ,” the girl finally said. “I just wanted to get a closer look, and they kept grabbing at me and wouldn’t let go!” Briar laughed.

            “They like you,” he explained. “You interest them.”

            “You talk about them like they’re people.”

            “Oh no, they’re much better than people,” Briar said. Tris snorted, earning a smile from her partner. The blonde girl just scrunched her face up.

            “You two are weird.”

            “You’re not wrong,” Tris said. “What’s your name?”

            “Yesi.” The girl rocked on her feet, as if unsure of whether to stay or run home. Chime glided into view and landed on Tris’ shoulder. Yesi stayed.

            “Well, Yesi, I’m Tris, that’s Briar, and this is Chime.” Tris extended her arm so Chime could walk down toward the girl. Yesi touched the glass dragon’s neck, eyes wide with wonder. “We all think you might be as weird as we are.” Chime spread her wings and showed off for the little girl while Tris spoke. “Do plants do strange things when you’re near them? Bloom when they’re supposed to be asleep for winter? Grow for you and no one else?” Yesi was no longer looking at Chime, her eyes locked on Tris as she described things the girl never told anyone.

            “Do you ever feel like plants make sense in a way people don’t?” Briar asked. “They don’t ask anything of you except for water and light.” Yesi nodded, her eyes shining and wet.

            “What’s wrong with me?” she whispered.

            This girl might have Briar’s magic, but Tris saw herself in the torn petticoats and battered shoes. Tris clamped down on the memories and the emotions they brought with them. She had said goodbye to House Chandler a long time ago. Briar gripped Tris’ shoulder to keep her grounded.

            “Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you,” he said.

            “You’re a mage,” Tris explained. The girl’s face fell. “I should have known. You’re both liars.” She started to back away, but Chime took flight and flew around her to keep her from going far.

            “They had magic sniffers at you when you were three and again at five. They found nothing. They didn’t notice anything at first because plant magic is subtle and not flashy like calling down hail or creating cyclones indoors, but one day something strange happened like just now with the roses. Vines snared you or you got stuck in some plants and couldn’t get out and when they cut you free, you cried because you felt their pain.” The words tumbled out of Tris, uncontrolled. Yesi froze where she stood, Chime hovering nearby.

            “How could you know that?” “Because I have that flashier kind of magic and they thought I was possessed. Briar is a plant mage, though. That’s why he was able to free you without cutting back the vines.” Tris wiped hurriedly at her eyes before any tears could fall.

            “Our magic isn’t the kind that magic sniffers can spot,” Briar said. “Our magic connects us to things in the natural world and craftwork. Tris has it with weather. Duke Vedris’ niece has it with threadwork.” Yesi inched closer to the couple sitting among the roses. She licked her lips.

            “You mean, I’m normal?”

            Briar and Tris glanced at each other before dissolving into laughter. Yesi gaped at them, grown-ups giggling in the dirt.

            “You’ll never be normal again, Yesi,” Briar said. “But that’s not the bad news.”

            “Right, the bad news is you get us for teachers,” Tris said, grinning. She held out a hand to Yesi and waited. “You should see Briar’s garden. It’s almost as beautiful as the gardens at Winding Circle.”

            Yesi took Tris’ hand and Chime sang with joy. She flew above them in spirals catching the sun on her wings and throwing rainbows over Lucky Street.

            “Let’s go tell your family all the news,” Tris said.


End file.
